The Problem
In 2014, A Gulf Fund signed a 6-year treaty with the Egyptian Government, outlining the provision of financial aid to an Agency mandated to support MSMEs in Egypt, as a means to enhance the microfinance sector in Egypt. The main objectives of this support are to reduce poverty, promote economic growth and create employment opportunities in Egypt by providing a lending source to microenterprises. The project focuses on improving living standards of people with deteriorating financial conditions (especially women and youth) with particular attention to the most impoverished rural areas.
This six-year period has now come to an end, and the fund seeks to gain insight into the social and economic impact of its loans on Egyptian MSMEs, to understand the quality of the lending entities involved, and to gauge whether the loans have reached those who are most in need.
The Approach
The consulting team was involved in the design of the impact assessment field surveys and in-depth interviews that was carried out in collaboration with a field research team with a sample of 504 beneficiaries. The consulting team was responsible for conducting a rigorous data analysis on the impact assessment survey results in order to draw insights regarding the social and economic impacts of the loan on the beneficiaries, in addition to using data analysis to gain insights into the performance of the lending entities themselves.
